Sometimes You Need Sushi

It's been a curious week. A curious last few months. My boss called me in today to make sure I'm getting enough support in my life and ask if there was anything I needed. He kindly offered to let me hide in an office away from my desk & coworkers, and might have offered me more time off. Generous considering I was out for more than two weeks in October, out for a week and a half in November, and I'll get another week and a half off in December for the holidays. I can't think of the last time I spent so much time away from work. I'm practically part-time.

I couldn't help but smile when boss inquired about my personal support system and if I had a place to escape. I'm grateful for wonderful friends, who tell me I'm handling things beautifully when I'm merely hanging on. Or who put up with pages and pages of daily emails - thanks T!

Sometimes you just need some sushi to talk over. And a heater at your desk - it is freezing in our office.

G goes Victorian

G decided for her 14th birthday she wanted a Victorian tea party. It ended up being more of a hot chocolate party...which they all seemed quite pleased with.

It's slightly shocking to me that she is 14. In a few years she will be exactly half my age. When she was born that seemed ages away, now it's around the corner. Though it was a rather sorrowful week for our family, I believe both my mother and I enjoyed having the distraction of party planning. She throughly enjoyed watching me make all the tea sandwiches.

G & Co.

I stayed up much to late the night before doing paper projects.

Snack spread.

The great petits fours disaster:

The party has started, the girls are out in the front playing croquet while M & C₁ work on making frosting.  Sadly the melted sugar base reached a temperature much to high and became a mass of hard candy. I came to the rescue - meaning a much simpler glaze was whisked together. However, with the girls already back inside, the rush left many cakes decidedly haphazard. Not that a group of 14 year-old girls care.

Thank goodness we don't have to do a Quinceanera next year.

Wednesday Wednesday

 A dreary morning as Dad and I made our way down to the Bay for Uncle L's funeral. A stop at the office beforehand for Dad to drop off some work. I felt quite apprehensive as we drove into the city as to how I might react to the funeral given that my maternal grandfather passed away the same day as Uncle L and we have not had his service yet. I do hate loosing it in front of people. Especially on this occasion, where I have only one firm memory in my life of seeing Uncle L - and that is from Wednesday seeing him in his coffin. It would have been a little strange to sob uncontrollably about my grandfather and have everyone wondering why I was so upset about Uncle L.

Thankfully I was so fascinated by the Catholic funeral mass there wasn't time to get emotional. It had been a long time since I'd attended a mass in the States, and the first time at a funeral. Most times I've been in foreign countries when I've attended. I did have a small moment when the nice catholic couple in front of me turned to take my hand and said "Peace be with you" - without blinking I responded, "Thanks". Only when the man across the isle came to greet them did I actually realize that was not the response they were looking for. I looked behind me and my paternal grandfather was sitting there giggling at my utter confusion over the process.

After the meeting/viewing at the funeral home and the mass at the church we headed to a small chapel at a catholic cemetery in Colma where there was another service. This time the Navy was included. It was the most moving moment of the day. The bugler stood outside the chapel and played Taps, then they did the flag ceremony and presented the flag to Aunt D. If the bugle wasn't enough when the military Chaplin was thanking her for Uncle L's service I was holding back the tears, barely.

After the cemetery, which my father kindly let me wander around, we headed to lunch. I enjoyed visiting with my dad's family.

 Grandma and her oldest sister Aunt A

 One of Aunt D's friends brought trays full of homemade Baklava.

I ate over 7 pieces and had quite the pile of honey covered wrappers. 

Everybody loves a good "me in the bathroom" photo, right?

COLMA - I do enjoy cemeteries. Such great art...and equally awful art.

Glad the clouds cleared away during mass.

Favorite picture of the day, me and Dad having a lovely time at lunch.

It's that time of year - Thanksgiving

That time of year thou may'st in me behold 
  When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang 
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, 
  Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang:


In me thou see'st the twilight of such day 
  As after sunset fadeth in the west, 
Which by and by black night doth take away, 
  Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest:


In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire 
  That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, 
As the death-bed whereon it must expire 
  Consum'd with that which it was nourish’d by:   

  This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, 
  To love that well which thou must leave ere long. 

- William Shakespeare

Hope you weren't disappointed that the post title wasn't referring to Frank Sinatra singing the Christmas Waltz.

The brief Thanksgiving break was an full one. Begun with the joyous news that we could leave work early. The Thanksgiving feast was held in Pacifica at my grandparents, comme d'habitude. The three J's and Q spent the night with G at my grandparents, and my oldest cousin D and his family of +2 was there when we arrived. Little D is just about Q's age. We got along swimmingly. Soon after arrival I had a plastic 9 inch fishing pool in hand with a magnet at the end and was crawling around the house on my hands and knees racing cars. I obey instructions well. Thankful for all the ways the babes make family gatherings enjoyable.

Czech dumplings and sauerkraut, it's what's for dinner. Thankful my grandparents share a little bit of our heritage with us for the holidays. Also, thankful that, as they get older, they speak less and less in Czech to each other so we can't understand.

There is a house on a hill in Pacifica built to look like a castle, and as Q is completely in her princess fascination phase we took a walk after dinner to show her the castle. She and lil' J were sufficiently impressed. The walk culminated in a stirring round of ring-around-the-rosie at the top of the hill. Love love love my family.

Back to the poem....

The big news of the weekend was that Papa finally died Saturday morning. I'm thankful he isn't suffering from his cancer anymore, but it's been a little bit of a shock. Of course, being us, when my parents returned from the lake Sunday evening you would have found us employing our favorite coping mechanisms, wit and hilarity. Laughter is great medicine. I freak out slightly each time someone attempts to approach me with expressions of sympathy, need to work on that.

In a natural life twist, because this would of course happen, my father's uncle passed away the same day. My only recollection of him is a photo of him and his family at my baby christening. Wednesday will be spent driving down to the bay for Uncle L's funeral. It is also my parent's 31st anniversary, and G's 14th birthday - talk about a humdinger of a day.

I'm thankful for experiences that put life in perspective, make me think, appreciate how truly amazing my life is and the wonderful blessings I have. Including the heartlessly practical gratitude I have for the five days of funeral leave the State of California is kind enough to offer me.